Sydney barrister and author

Whatever shortcomings existed among members of the Australian men's freestyle relay team, it is not alleged that they didn't knock on the door before entering a room containing women. No matter how much Stilnox they consumed, or what pranks they were up to, it is not suggested that they resorted to grabbing a pistol, possibly putting on prosthetic legs, and shooting four times through their door. Don Talbot would not have allowed that sort of behaviour.

Crime-scene experts, forensic examiners and Hollywood agents are descending on Pretoria in droves, as the Pistorius murder case proves once again that a highly skilled cross-examiner and defence team can devastate even the most airtight prosecution case.

The price of liberty is eternal litigation and the work of the best barrister in the land, Barry Roux, in his cross-examination of detective Hilton Botha, was described by a South African Tweeter and journalist Karyn Maughan as ''like watching a baby seal getting clubbed''. It helps a defendant when your lawyer arrives at the crime scene before 4.15am when the lead detective, Botha, himself arrives.

Roux is a man for all seasons. He has litigated in civil matters, tax matters and administrative matters, and was described on Twitter as a ''genius''. He would doubtless make a fine Cleaver Greene if Rake were to be made in South Africa.

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There is no substitute for a withering cross-examiner who knows his brief better than the lead detective. The way in which Roux pulled the threads apart from the prosecution case is a masterclass in forensic cross-examination. It also doesn't hurt the defendant's case that Botha has earlier been to the house and arrested Pistorius for the assault of another woman. Roux made the most of this and Botha was forced to admit that that case had collapsed and that the defendant was suing the police, and the woman, for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. It also didn't hurt Pistorius's case that the lead detective himself was charged with seven counts of attempted murder, which he did not reveal until he was called back for further cross-examination.

By that time, Botha was already dead in the water. He had been picked apart by Roux, going through the ''facts sheet'' that Botha had prepared as to the reasons why bail should be refused. Roux took on the police facts one by one. The warrant officer who first arrived at the Pistorius home walked through the crime scene without foot covers, thereby contaminating it. The police crime-scene investigators did not find a fourth bullet, which the defence ballistic team found in the toilet. Detective Botha seemed to have lost the first urine sample taken from the accused. Botha confused how far away ear-witnesses were from the house and eventually chopped the distance in half.

Roux pointed out compelling reasons why the prosecution case on intended murder fell far short of its mark. The post-mortem exam showed Steenkamp's bladder as being empty, indicating that she had been to the toilet recently; bladders are normally full at that time of night.

Roux cross-examined Botha on why he was critical that Pistorius hadn't rung for help. As it happened, police had not seized the accused's phone or retrieved records by the time of the hearing. Roux was able to assert that Pistorius's affidavit was exactly the same as the version he gave to his sister shortly after the shooting.

Botha claimed that he was going to charge Pistorius with possession of unlicensed ammunition and containers of testosterone injectables. However, Roux was able to assert that the ammunition belonged to the accused's father and that the drugs were a legal, herbal remedy, and that the criticism about making no emergency calls was false, as they had been made on another phone.

Initially the prosecution asserted that the shots had been fired over 17 minutes, which would have been telling against Pistorius; however, Roux was able to cross-examine Botha to prove the ear-witnesses must have been wrong, as they seemed to have heard more shots than were fired.

The only leg that the prosecution has left to stand on is the trajectory of the bullets, if, as Botha said in evidence, they were fired down and from height. This might be an inconsistency with Pistorius's affidavit, where he swore that he only put on his prosthetic legs after the shooting and after he found the toilet locked. He used his cricket bat to bash open the toilet door.

If Roux succeeds in getting Pistorius off, then there will be an Oscar for the actor playing Oscar, be it Daniel Craig or Peter Dinklage from Game of Thrones. If acquitted, Pistorius could also reinvent himself in the sport of biathlon, which combines skiing and shooting. The running blades can be turned into skis, and with training he could develop his shooting skills from the crouching or standing position while skiing simultaneously.

As O.J. Simpson proved, there is life after a murder trial, although his efforts at tracking the Bolivian drug cartel that he alleges murdered his wife and her friend have been hampered by his subsequent incarceration for stealing his own championship cups. Pistorius at least knows who killed his girlfriend and why.